As for talking, we should ask if she always rushes in like that. It'll probably be relevant for the future.
Otherwise, let's get to work on our other dates. If we have one date a month and go for the full four, we'll have a four month courtship. That should be nice and dignified by frontier standards while matching our panicked haste in getting political connections and heirs in order.
Maybe an expedition? We could explore some uncharted areas, ideally with her crew. Especially if we can bring the muse along for temple insight.
+1. An expedition sounds like it would suit her.
+1
As the date winds down, you decide to ask the potentially difficult question that has been eating at your mind.
"So, are you always the sort to rush headlong into danger?"Autumn briefly considers your quarry before answering.
"Kind of. In my group it is sort of the dynamic. I advocate for the risky big glory plays, while Sabre and the Golden Elk try to talk me down. For the future, even if I whip out my armory and start gearing up, it is not too late to talk me out of it if you put in the effort, and I wont hold it against you. I do appreciate you letting off the leash today, quite the romantic gesture actually. Thanks."She grins, and playfully punches you on the shoulder.
---
The next month moves at a crawl. Little of note happens in the wider colony, but at least the situation improves within your temporary quarters. After a bit of complaining, Sister Daisy uses her illusion magic to mask the smell of her rotting food, and Sister Shelly does the same to cover up the sound of the beatings she lays onto Beatriz. Beatriz herself seems to have improved her behavior towards you quite a bit since you fought alongside her agaisnt the Elephant Moles; The predatory looks she gives you are somewhat less frequent. She also spends quite a bit of time away from the
Trumpet when left to her own devices, which is better for everyone.
To kill time, you take a few shifts on the bridge, commanding the
Trumpet of Revelation. Although you don't make any true friends of the hardened Judgement Department employees, you do learn names and who best knows what to the point where you would be fairly comfortable commanding the cruiser in battle or other stressful situations.
Two solar days before you are scheduled to move into your new quarters planetside, you are briefed on some of the previous month's happenings.
Chief engineer Straton's group has the Bambi Temple district about 1/5th mapped out. Progress has stalled has he and his team are currently in cyrostasis.
Lady Mercury's group has the Lush Temple district about half mapped out. They have made an interesting discovery; About 5 kilometers from the temple, directly opposite of your settlement, is a strange system of caves and ravines. The walls are covered by what appears to be a mega-colony of strange and friendly beetle-like eusocial creatures, who produce a translucent purple rock candy-like substance that tastes of honey and lavender. The explorers were able to map out about a kilometer and a half of tunnels. There is more to explore, but after a point the floor is covered with dangerous fast running water, which renders deeper penatration unsafe.
Chippy's group of aliens have finished their survey of the Guilded Temple District. They have found one interesting feature aside from the temple: a 'clearing' in the deepest part of the woods, covered by the canopy but devoid of root, branch, or trunk. The clearing seems to be a perfect pentagon in shape, with each corner marked by a large brass structure reminiscent of a totem pole from old Terra, each decorated with the faces of various alien beasts. In the center of the clearing is a single anvil made from some strange metal; an alloy consisting mostly of Iron that every scanner Chippy used have thus far refused to identify.
There was another Elephant Mole attack, this one far more costly than the last. The creatures seem to have targeted your half sister Lina and her Enforcers. They emerged while most of the troops were unarmed doing jogging drills, and positioned themselves so as to cut the enforcers off from their armory. To make matters worse, the attack happened while the
Trumpet of Revelation's coms systems were offline for a few minutes for regularly scheduled matienence. It took the better part of an hour for the Silver Anchors to respond and put down the monsters, by which point your enforcers had suffered over three quarters of their number in fatal causalities, and Lina herself was brutally mauled. The inexperienced tank crews were unable to affix their modules and deploy in time to help. Your sister will live, but is expected to be out of action for at least a few months while new limbs are vat-grown for her.
Two alien warships jumped into the system. They stuck to the outer fringes of the star's gravitational influence, ignored most hails, and left after about a solar week. They had one brief conversation with the crew of the
Trumpet of Revelation, in which they claimed to be a routine patrol but otherwise refused to identify themselves. Translation software suggests that the visitors were speaking Krakgar, a language belonging to an alien race of the same name. Officially little is known about the Krakgar aside from the fact that they are active in this part of the frontier. Jasper pulls up a 50 year old report that speculates the Krakgar have the strength equivalent to a minor human civilization of a half dozen developed star systems, but that they are spread out over a much larger area hiding in floating communities beneath the upper atmosphere of various Jovian planets.
Ironically, you think you probably know more about the Krakgar than the government. They make themselves scarce because they fear the much more powerful confederation, but they do conduct busniess with pirates and smugglers from time to time. Your organization rarely conducted business in this part of the galactic frontier, and you would have delegated such dealings to Ol' Crablegs, your Lieutenant in charge of handling non-human clients, but it is likely your business database has some information on the Krakgar. It is a shame that said database is located aboard the currently absent
Solo.
---
You are quite relieved when the time finally comes to move into your new headquarters. The building is nowhere near complete, but the basement is. Your eventual grand apartment is to be on the top floor, but for now you are moved into a fancy basement suite intended for visiting dignitaries, important underlings, and your future adult children. You have a private bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and dining hall, as well as a large sitting room with one wall made of glass facing out to the bottom of an open pit; Eventually this glass wall will be the window to the bottom of a fountain-pond, giving its inhabitants a nice view of whatever decorations or aquatic life you choose to stock it with. For now, your three remaining Chrono-Sirens set up shop in this common space so that they are close enough to take your requests and serve as your bodyguards. You wind up spending most of your day in the bedroom, as it is the only part of your apartment insulated against the sound and vibrations of the construction happening above you.
---
Sitting in your new room, you ponder what you should do for your next date with Lady Mercury. You've narrowed it down to an expedition of some sort, and you have a few options, the most obvious of which is to simply join her group as they continue to explore the nearby woods of the Lush Temple district. You could also pull them off that duty for the afternoon, and pick up where your currently frozen engineers left off in the Terran forest.
If you are feeling a bit more daring, you could always explore a temple instead. As far as you know, nobody has dared enter the abandoned alien houses of worship at the center of the Lush or Guilded districts. There are also a few dozen temples that don't support biomes themselves, but are close enough to the terraforming machine so as to have enough atmospheric pressure to make visitation safe. You suppose you could call up to the bridge of the
Trumpet, and request the coordinates for a temple of almost any theme of your choosing.
How do you proceed?
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Topic: (SG) Penal Governor (Read 8552 times)