Badass Dragon Scavengers of the Void - Denoument

“Well, don’t that beat all. We’re alive. Nice work out there.”

“I am now authorized to void the remainder of your contracts. You’re free to go. The escape pods appear to regenerate after use, so in time there will be enough for all of you. Just point it at a system that sounds good, push the ‘GO’ button, and take a good nap in hypersleep in the meantime. You should make it back to what passes for civilization around these parts in no time at all - from your point of view at least.”

“You’re welcome to stay on board as crew too, if that’s your thing. Can’t say what will happen. I’ve voided my contract too, so I’m free to get on with my own business. Maybe this sludge will eventually devour me whole and I’ll become something like the Bogey. Maybe not. But in the meantime, it’s a big ol’ galaxy out there and it’d be a shame not to see more of it.”

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{what happened on mission 2?}

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NOTHING.

Absolutely NOTHING.

Which was the plan.

If TEX hadn’t com through, the Swarm would have broken through to the mess, and well,

it would not have been pretty.

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And that, boys and girls, is how the “Mess” got its name

(alternate world where Tex took the escape pod)

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Hurrah for everybody!

And with that, I bid y’all a hearty adieu. Time to head back to Canis Majoris and kick-start the revolution that I got exiled for planning get started on that second PhD!

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Nyan Pug!

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Well that went better than expected. I’m a little sad to have not participated, but it’s better than the crew being swarmed.

Seeing as the remainder of you are fine sentients, I’ll be staying a while. I’ve already spent my fair share of time in hypersleep, and I don’t feel like going back under.

My Sentient_Targeting_System isn’t afraid of the sludge, so I have a good hunch you’ll be OK. Just holler though and we can try digging some of that out.

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Sorry to see you go, Professor, but all I’ve got waiting for me is a borrowed delivery truck with a whole lot of long term parking fees.

Guess I’ll hang out here on the Ol’ Cole and see where we end up.

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fzzt-klik!

Off-key whistling

:musical_score::notes:"Iiii’m a-whistlin’ on the Booooo-gey, aaallll the live-long daaaayyy… Iiii’m about to drop a preeee-sent, just to blow yo ass awaaaaaay…" :musical_note::notes:

“What’s that? Oh, this? Uh… not much. Science experiment. Yeah, I’m a scion… a sciensoround… a scientologist, yep, that’s me. See, check it out, I have a Floor-O-Meter and ever’thing. Means I’m doing science is what that means.”

Zzapp-krakk!!

“Oww! Hey, you can’t do that! Us scientological types are whatcha call yer basic non-combatters! Okay, fine, I’ll go. What? Leave this? But it’s my experiment! It cost me… I dunno, but more cloaca-jobs than I wanna remember. Really? Can’t I just… Oh fine, fine, don’t shoot. Just tell me where… No, that’s silly, it wouldn’t be remotely valuable to you guys, it’s mostly stuff I scraped out of the mammals’ biorecycling chamber, some molted carapaces, my ma’s favorite combustion accelerant recipe, and a 9-volt battery… No, I’m pretty sure there’s no ketchup in there. Really. No, I would have remembered. Whaddaya mean, you can smell it? We’re standing in hard vacuum, how can you… Awright, awright, I’m goin’. But just wait until my Dean hears about this! He’ll prolly kick me outta the whole scientological program, but then I’ll tell my cousin, he’s a mean ol’ lizard who’s a real bastard on the colored pencils, and you guys won’t come outta this looking so smart, you just wait and see.”

“Oh, and don’t open it outside unless you want the ketchup to freeze-dry. Meanies.”

Klik-fzzt

“Jones, did I leave the detonator with you?”

“Nope, not that I can… hold on a sec, gimme that, sweetheart. No, that’s… No! That is not for you! I know he was rude to you, baby, he’s that way to everyone, but he’s tryin’ to save the crew…”

“Jonesy, is Gigan in the pod with you?”

“Uh… that’s affirmative. I guess.”

“Does she have my detonator?”

“Looks like it.”

“Can you get it from her?”

Muffled hissing sounds

“That’s a negatory, Boss. Buzzsaw blade, sharp beak, you know how it is.”

Sigh.

“Yeah. Okay. Tell her… tell her…”

“She’s listening.”

“Gigan. Sugar-spikes. Baby-nails. Dream-blade. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ve been an utter skink, and I’ll make it up to you. Just press that li’l red button, save the crew, and I’ll… I’ll… take you back. I’ll bring you to visit my folks back on Herpeton IV, we’ll start over, come on, Gigan, I’ve been dreaming of your ovipositor every night on this voyage, please push the button and let’s get back together…”

Snufflesnufflesnerk! Kheeheeheehee…!

“Gigan… are you… is that crying…?”

Bad falsetto voice

“Oh, Tex, you irresistible Ass!”

“…”

Heeheeheeheeheesnort!!

“Jones. Is that… you?”

“Ahem. Jones here, Boss. (Snigger)”

“Where… Where’s Gigan?”

“That floozy? God knows. She grabbed your Arcturan Cone of Silence and half your juice boxes and bailed in the first lifepod. She’s halfway to Ella’s by now. Oh, and thanks for the shipboard entertainment. The crew hasn’t laughed this hard in weeks!”

“But the button…!”

“Pressed it two minutes ago, Boss. The fight’s over. They’re all dead. You beat 'em. Congrats.”

“You… you flea-bitten sonofabitch.”

“Hey now, I’m pure felinoid. C’mon, Tex. Don’t scientologists have any sense of humor?”

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Mission Report/ Mission 3.

“It’s for you!”

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Good job, Rembrandt. Thanks for the cover out there.

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Well urchin spit.

I’m all fired up and nothing to shoot. Though that’s better than dead, …I think?

Anyway, I’ve got nowhere to go back to, not but a single credit to my name, but I finally got this sweet claw and some of that red goop, sooo… If you’re headed outbound and don’t mind the company, I think I might ride with you for a bit Cole, see what we can get into
.

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It has been a pleasure seeing the wild scavenging of this bunch.

I am honored.

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Well, that was a little exciting there for a bit, especially when I traded something to Tex. Be nice to get that flurorometer back, I’ve got some more sciencin’ to do. Plenty of other planets need botanists. This was a fun jaunt, and nice to be able to get away in a hurry from, um, where I was previously.

Rest assured that I’ll never forget any of you. All the time that we spent on this, um, cruise. It’s been very educational and a real treat getting to know all of you. Best of luck in the future, I’ll be seeing you around.

Mark “Dickie” Watney

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"NEEEERRRRDD!!!"

Clang!!

“Yer fluorometer, Mister Science Who Is No Longer Quite As Sciencey As Me!!!”

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First lol I’ve had today. :grinning:

ETA: Shit, it’s already tomorrow. Okay, starting today off with a laugh then.

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Is that… is that the Ghost of Captain Ssskipper I see before me?!

Man, this is always the best part of the game!

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Romulan Ales for everybody*!

* for certain limited definitions of the term “everybody” where everybody := 2.

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This all went terribly well. Just fantastic. Exactly as I planned. I think I can roll my success into a political career. After all, none of you could have done this without my leadership.

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