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The Commander pondered his options. By the book, he had the authority to do almost anything short of declaring war on these mysterious Builders himself - Standing Order 16 gave commanding officers discretionary powers to defend the Realm, which this certainly counted as. In these situations, the rule was "move first, cover your ass after".

He really didn't have a choice, did he? The board of inquiry deciding whether he had acted prudently would just have to deal with his actions.

The Commander extended his hand. "I accept. Welcome to the Colonial Fleet, miss...?"

"Dauntless."

---

The call to his superiors went... well, for lack of a better word. The Commander was instructed to keep an eye on Dauntless, making sure she was emotionally and mechanically in good repair. To assuage their fears and prove herself as worthy of serving in the fleet, she had promised to aid humanity in the fight against her sisters in any way she could. The Lord Engineer would take his recommendations under consideration - provided, of course, he made good his claims of advanced alien technology. What more could he have asked for?

The Commander was interrupted from his reminiscing by Genevieve placing a set of binders on his desk with a loud thump.

"These are the new transfers. I believe they're in the mess hall if you'd like to meet them."

---

The Objectives, in this case, are more like guidelines than strict instructions. I provide them so you don't get lost and end up not knowing what to do. You are freely allowed to do something not listed as an Objective.

Is it loyalty?

Microwave transmitters? Please. Those are just a cover-up for the effects of 5G on the body.

If there is not currently consensus, and the most popular suggestions don't conflict, in the interest of keeping things moving I might try to capture the intent of all of them. Additionally, if making a decision is too hard, you can vote to delegate to the Commander himself (in which case he will choose what is most attractive to him.)

---

"Excuse me?"

Both of them stared at each other for a brief moment.

"I mean, of course, although I would like more information on your... former employers?"

Dauntless nodded. "I suppose I couldn't keep it secret for long. I was built by an alien species as you guessed. I recognize that I obsolete your fleet with my presence, Commander, but to them, I'm a second-rate ship."

She paused, raising her hand as if to demonstrate a point, but all that did was throw the tremor it had picked up into sharp relief.

"I served them faithfully for years and they saw fit to cannibalize me for parts like an animal.""

Dauntless's breathing had turned laboured and her voice was trembling. There was a brief moment of calm, and then in an instant, she exploded.

"I was the pride of my fleet and they threw me away like trash!"

Dauntless stared for a moment, in shock at what she had just done. Belatedly, she covered her mouth and looked away.

"Apologies, Commander. My feelings are strong on this topic."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and then she continued.

"When my builders notice where I've escaped to, they will almost certainly invade. A ship with my firepower is the least of your worries then, Commander."

Is it aggression?

False.

The next poster is a necromancer.

Interesting. I’ll be paying attention to this.

Should we already be starting to provide suggestions, or will there be a second post where decisions are available?

You can suggest things at any time. The Commander is a bit of a blank slate, but he has some... autopilot, so to speak.

Looks like we're a sentient space-battleship, with enormous firepower, decent point defenses, and... a secondary "body", maybe? I'm not sure what's going on with the silent pistol.

What material self-states and/or projections are currently available to us?
Where are we? What are the people who've taken us in like?

Unfortunately, I might not have been clear. Dauntless is in fact an NPC. I can answer questions if you still have them, though I would much prefer to try to weave them into the narrative. Hopefully, this conversation between the Commander and Dauntless may clear things up.

I kept an eye on this and of course it blows up when I'm not looking. I am interested, but fully expect to fall flat once it falls onto me to drive the action. Oh well, for Friend Computer!

1) Dan-R-GRY-1
2) Service Sector: Tech Services
3) Secret Society: None, Friend Computer!
4) Mutant Power: None, Friend Computer!
5) Preferred Team Role: Equipment Guy
6) Your Security Clearance: Red
7) Your Clone number: 1
Your Favorite Part of the Mission: Heroically defending Our Complex from Commie Mutant Traitors
9) Other useless miscellaneous info, like your stats, skills, appearance, gender, personality, etc.: Gender is male, like that makes a difference in Alpha Complex. Appearance is pale-skinned and with perpetual stubble. High Software and Hardware skills, especially bot skills.

I also have the virtue of having actually read the rulebook or the RED parts, anyway.