Choose Your Own (Space) Adventure! M/M

Stories that have little truth to them should go here.
User avatar
bigsmile21
Centennial Club
Centennial Club
Posts: 104
Joined: 6 years ago

Choose Your Own (Space) Adventure! M/M

Post by bigsmile21 »

Please enjoy this Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) story I’ve built. Story premise is you’ve just signed up to join a spaceship’s crew as its newest engineer. Average decision tree is 4 choices before Story End. To give additional flavor to your decisions, rank the four traits below from 1 to 4 with no repeats. +1 is below average, +2 is average, +3 is above average, and +4 is best-in-class. Don’t spend too much time here, because hopefully you’ll revisit most of the decisions anyways, but consider where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

S.T.A.R. Rating System:
S.trength – how strong are you? Related aspects include physical strength and martial arts skills.
T.hinking – how intelligent are you? Related aspects include scientific knowledge and social skills.
A.giligty – how quick are you? Related aspects include reflexes and slight-of-hand.
R.esilience – how tough are you? Relates aspects include physical stamina and mental fortitude.

Introduction: You step aboard the enormous spaceship. It's your ticket off this planet. You've passed your exams from the University for Interstellar Travel and aced your interviews last month. Now that the paperwork has been processed, you're signed on with the ship for a three-year contract and are ready to begin your journey to destinations unknown.

You're greeted by one of the officers you met during the interview process, Lieutenant Millen, a tall human male in his 30s wearing a gold long-sleeved shirt and black slacks. You shake hands and he escorts you to Engineering. Two sliding doors open and reveal the massive engine. He explains that your primary role will be to assist the chief engineer with updating it. A man in his 50s moves from behind the engine wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, loose black cargo pants, and thick black leather gloves. His face is covered in grease marks. He extends his hand and introduces himself as Chief Engineer Hagan. Officer Millen welcomes you aboard one final time before leaving the engine room.

Chief Engineer Hagan (Chief for short, he insists) says he is glad to have a new crew member. His previous protégé was still in the sickbay. Before you have time to inquire further, the engine behind him violently bucks and an exhaust of flame erupts, headed towards you.
• Dive down, avoiding the flames (go to Section 011)
• Move you and the Chief out of the way (requires Strength of 2 or higher) (go to Section 004)


Section 001: You inquire more into what happened to the person who previously held your role. The Chief looks up from his data pad and stops walking. He turns to you and says it was a terrible accident. That young whippersnapper was always tinkering with the engine, swapping out older parts for newer parts willy-nilly. But an engine has a life of its own, the Chief says, and you can’t just go about ripping its guts out for shinier components. He says the engine backfired while his former protégé was behind it one day. He was severely burned, was still recovering in the Medical area. The Chief gets another ding on his data pad and begins reading it. But drawing his attention back to you for a moment he suggests you go visit the poor chap. It would be good for you two to connect. He starts walking off.

You head out to the Medical area, getting directions from one of the crew members. It takes a while to get there due to the sheer size of the ship. You are greeted by a Waco, a short alien with skin the texture of tree bark, wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and black slacks. You’ve been exposed to a few different forms of alien life at school and during your life. But unfortunately, you’re not familiar enough with their dialect to hold an intelligent conversation with a Waco. It asks in English why you are Medical, it’s voice pitchy, almost like snapping tree limbs. You sigh, glad you didn’t have to embarrass yourself with trying to speak through a translator, which didn’t always capture the right context.

You mention you’d like to see one of the injured engineering personnel. The Waco blinks slowly, then again, they did everything slowly. It says there is currently one patient. He directs you into a white, clean room with multiple beds. In the far corner appears a sleeping individual, covered head to toe in bandages.
• Ask to see the patient logs (go to Section 026)
• Move cautiously to the patient (requires Agility of 3 or higher) (go to Section 016)


Section 002: The Chief doesn’t seem to be focused at first on what you’re saying. Then you get the idea to upload your designs straight to his data pad. With a swipe of a button, schematics of your engine designs pop up on his screen. He doesn’t stop walking. In fact, his pace seems to have quickened. You give him a brief explanation of your core components and changes you’ve modeled, and he says these look mighty sharp. Trouble is, though, he doesn’t have the right pieces on board. He stops. You realize both of you are back in front of the engine. He looks up from his data pad and claps you on the back. But by Jove he thinks these designs are the best things he’s seen in years. He walks you behind the engine, and two of you begin discussing the more technical aspects of your designs.

Over the next month, he tutors you not only in the intricacies of the engine’s performance but also how his entire engineering department runs. You begin questioning why certain routines are the way they are, and he always scratches his chin saying, huh, he’s never thought of doing it any other way. You don’t always have his full attention, but you learn to make the best of the time he gives you. You become friendly with members of the engineering crew, to the point where they invite you to their weekly cards night. You win some, you lose some, but overall you have fun.

The ship lands on the planet Resaca, and the Chief gives you a shopping list of sorts for the parts he says they’ll need to make your alterations to the engine. Stock up, because the next planet is another month away.
• Shop till you drop (go to Section 006)
• Stick to the list (requires Resilience of 3) (go to Section 003)


Section 003: You hold to an oath to only spend funds on the necessary components. Very disciplined of you. There are plenty of tempting alien wares. Merchants of all shapes, sizes, and species try to convince you that they have they very best merchandise in the market. You window-shop at a few vendors before making your selections. One particularly pushy merchant tries to barter with you, saying your space uniform would fetch for a nice price and he’s sure the ship has others. That strikes you as odd, and you kindly turn down their offer. You step outside and the atmosphere has turned a deep purple, due to whatever mix of molecules makes up the environment here. Still safe for you to breathe, of course, but it gets more difficult to see as the nearby star stars to set over the horizon.

You get an uneasy feeling on your walk back to the spaceship. You’re pretty sure this is the right way back, though maybe it would have been better to take a right turn at the last district. You glance over your shoulder and see the same pushy merchant from before, only this time they’re accompanied by three beefy aliens, each looking like jacked-up walking alligators. Their scales are green and brown, and they have large claws on the tips of their fingers and toes. The merchant seems to be holding some sort of metal collar, and you piece together that this individual sells more than just the wares visible in their shop. You duck behind some barrels, trying to avoid their attention.

The quartet of slavers pass you by and you quickly make your way back down the alley. You try to stay in the open as much as possible. A dark alley may provide for a quicker retreat but could also spit you out someone you didn’t want to be. After an hour you make it back to the ship safely. You share your purchases with the Chief, who seems ecstatic to begin conversions to the engine. The ship takes off soon after, and you safely venture forward to your next destination. Story End.


Section 004: You shout to get down and lunge forward, tackling the Chief to the ground. He grunts as your body lands on top of him. You feel an intense wave of heat pass over your back. The explosion ends, and you roll off him, nerves shaking from the close call. Several crew members in attire like the Chief quickly rush to your aid. You are both helped to your feet and Chief thanks you for your quick help. That could have gotten messy real quick. The crew members cheer in applause. The Chief shows his thanks by offering you a uniform, since you’re now officially part of his crew.
• Accept the shirt and your new role aboard the ship (go to Section 009)
• Decline the offer. You’d feel safer staying off this ship (go to Section 010)


Section 005: You quickly strip the security officer to his briefs and cuff his hands behind his back. It’s a tough position since the cuffs don’t flex on any axis. You change into his clothes and secure the data pad, leaving the interrogation room after what feels like forever. The gold long-sleeved shirt and black slacks are a little loose on you but will do for now. From the other side of the one-way mirror, you pull up your personnel file on the data pad. He’d been in the process of deleting your record of employment.

You pull up the other recent files and discover two things. First, the investigation into the explosion has been closed, with the officer signing off that he found no suspicious activity and attributed the explosion to the faulty engine. Second, he’s been corresponding with some merchant, no, slave trader, saying he had just acquired new merchandise. The scumbag Blythe was about to sell you off on an alien world. You look up from the data pad and into the interrogation room. The guard is still out cold. You receive a new message from the slaver, asking if the trade was still good for next week. You reply that yes, the trade should be set, and begin looking around for a crate large enough to smuggle your new “merchandise” off the ship once you land. Story End.


Section 006: You have phenomenal cosmic power at your fingertips! Well, the spaceship’s charge card, so just cosmic power. Still, you venture out to find everything on your list and then some. There are electrical devices that could help make tinkering with that clunker of an engine steadier. There are fire retardant pants to help reduce burns from the exhaust bursts. There’s even a beeper device you’re thinking of attaching to the Chief’s data pad to help him know when he’s near a ledge. After three hours perusing the market you find something else that catches your eye: a large casino. Given your recent win from last night’s cards game, you venture into the casino, promising yourself you’ll only wager a few bits.

It’s another three hours before you’re thrown out the back of the casino. You land in a puddle of…something. You stand up, trying to brush the gunk off your red shirt when you turn around to confront the casino brutes who just evicted you from the premises. The tall, bulky man and the short, stocky alien say that you’ve maxed out your charge card and that your face isn’t welcome there anymore. They slam the door shut.

It hits you that there’s no way you could pay the spaceship back what you just cost them. The budget for the engine’s parts was generous, but the volume of debt you are facing means that your children’s children’s children would still owe their life’s salaries. You consider heading back to the ship. The Chief may not notice anything past his data pad, but the Bridge crew would certainly notice the bill when it comes due. It’s with a heavy heart that you decide to ditch your crew. Maybe you can sell some of your engine designs to private contractors. You set out, future uncertain, but always looking over your shoulder in case the ship sends any collects, debt or otherwise, your way. Story End.


Section 007: You stand, er, sit your ground, saying you’re not going anywhere until you get some answers. You’re certain the information you’ve provided is correct. The security officer looks you up and down, smirks, and flips a switch under his desk. You feel electric shocks come out of your chair and rush through your body. Your muscles lock up. It gets difficult to breathe. But the security officer’s smirk loses its luster when he sees you powering through the shocks and begin to stand. He flicks another switch and you see metal bands pop out the chair. Five quick clicks and your hands, feet, and chest are quickly secured to the chair. At this point, the electricity is overwhelming and your vision fades to black as you pass out.

You wake up feeling sore all over your body. You look up and around to realize you’re still in the brig, inside one of the cells. You’re wearing a bright orange convict uniform with the word “CORRECTIONS” on the left lapel. Your feet are cold as they lay bare on the cool metal floor of the prison cell. You seem to be sitting on the floor against the wall. You try stand up but can’t. You look up to see metal cubes where your hands should be, anchored to the wall. You try to feel around with your fingers, but your hands feel balled up inside. There’s a node on the front of each handcube. No key holes, just a lit up box glowing red.

The security guard clears his throat. He hopes you had a nice nap, and says you’ve been out for a day. Your clothes were a bit burnt from your prolonged time resisting the electricity from earlier. He’s never seen anyone will their way physically or mentally through pain like you did. They found a suspicious device on the back of the engine and given your involvement in the Chief’s accident you’re looking awfully suspicious. But he’s doublechecked your background and there’s nothing to indicate any underground or extremist involvement. Just a typo on your report. He asks you to explain yourself.
• Tell him you want to catch whoever’s trying to frame you. Sway the officer to train you as part of his security team (requires Intelligence of 3 or higher) (go to Section 023)
• Plead interplanetary diplomatic immunity. He has no business capturing a diplomat on route to his home world (go to Section 024)
• Tell him to do his worst. You’re not talking. (go to Section 025)


Section 008: The officer frowns, as if disappointed. He says believes there’s been a mistake, but whether you are behind it he’s not sure, yet. You start to stand up, eyeing the door. He flips a switch under his desk and you feel the chair underneath you electrify. Your muscles lock up and you quickly black out.

Your eyes open to show you’re lying on a metal bench. The room is dark, with one overhead light shining dimly. There’s a single door leading out along with a large mirror, which you assume is a one-way window. It’s unsettling not knowing whether you’re being watched from the other side. You feel rigid cuffs holding your hands in front of your body. No visible key hole, so they must be secured magnetically.

Time passes before the door finally opens. The security guard enters, a data pad in his hand. He says given your suspicious behavior he’s had to secure you to this interrogation room. It’s just you and him. He suggests you start talking.
• Persist your innocence. This is just a matter of “wrong place, wrong time” (go to Section 030)
• Tell him to do his worst. You’re not talking (go to Section 025)


Section 009: You gladly accept the uniform, moving to put on the red long-sleeved shirt right there. You pause at putting on the black cargo pants, realizing most of the engineering team is still around you. One of the crew members whistles encouraging. The Chief clears his throat and says he better show you to your new quarters. The two of you head behind the engine, which for now seems to have calmed down. There’s a long hallway with doors on each side, and in the middle you both stop as the Chief opens a door. Inside is a simple room with a single bed, a desk, and a chair. This is your room, he says, and his is right across should you need anything. He says to take your time settling in. There will be time for an introduction of the crew and the rest of the engineering area once you’re properly attired. He leaves and you change into your (full) uniform.
• Head straight back to the Chief (go to Section 018)
• Investigate the engine (go to Section 014)


Section 010: The Chief looks down. The crew members around you start to murmur. One of them lets out an audible gasp. But it’s likely for the best, the Chief says, as the position of his protégé seems to be cursed recently. He says he’ll type up a recommendation letter for your quick thinking and courage after the ship takes off and send it to you over his data pad. You are escorted off the ship. It will take time to find another crew, but after today you think it’s best for a stiff drink. Story End.


Section 011: You drop and feel the rush of heat pass over you. Once the flames are gone, you look to see that the Chief is lying on the ground. He wasn’t quick enough to avoid the blast. His attire is charred, and his skin is burnt. Soon others from Engineering, all wearing red long-sleeved shirts and black cargo pants, move around you trying to help the Chief. One of them calls for medical personnel.

The sliding doors open and four crew members enter, each wearing blue long-sleeved shirts and black slacks, toting with them a long white medical stretcher. They carefully strap Chief Hagan to the stretcher and begin taking him up to the Medical bay. You feel a hand on your shoulder and turn around to see an officer wearing a gold long-sleeved shirt ask you to come with him. He’s from the Bridge security team and has some questions for you.

A long, silent walk later and the officer leads you into the ship’s brig, revealing a small room with five prison cells on one wall and a desk with two metal chairs on the other wall. He tells you to have a seat and he takes the seat behind the desk. He brings up your personnel file and asks you to confirm your personal information: birth date, birth planet, school, but he asks you to repeat what school you attended. He says that there’s either a discrepancy with your file or something isn’t adding up because that’s not the school listed on your file. He stands up and asks that you move into the closest open cell while he sorts this out.
• Comply, willingly move into the cell (go to Section 012)
• Protest, not budging until you get some answers (requires Resilience of 3 or higher) (go to Section 007)
• There obviously been a mistake. Try to leave (go to Section 008)


Section 012: You walk into the cell and the security officer closes it behind you. He says it shouldn’t take long, and he leaves with your personnel file in his hands. The cell is cramped, and you hope no one else gets put in here with you. There a metal bench about two feet off the ground, so you sit down and wait. It’s about an hour later when he returns, smiling.

There was a typo in your file, corrected now. He unlocks the cell and says there’s nothing suspicious about your version of what happened in the engine room. Just the wrong place and wrong time. You’re free to go.
• Visit the Chief in Medical unit (go to Section 013)
• Investigate the engine (go to Section 014)


Section 013: It takes some time to find the right area, given the size of the ship. But after asking around you find the Medical unit. You ask to see the Chief and are led into a large immaculate room with sick beds, one of which is occupied. The Chief is covered in medical bandages and appears to still be unconscious. The attendant says he will recover fine, in fact it’s not the first time the Chief has been up here due to that old engine. You sigh, glad to hear he will be okay.
• Decide to leave the ship; maybe space travel isn’t for you after all (go to Section 022)
• Something isn’t right; head back to the engine room (go to Section 014)


Section 014: You head back to the engine room. There are engineering crew members moving about, handling their own tasks. You head behind the engine to where you first saw the fire shoot out. After closer inspection, you notice there has been some crossed wires. Sure, this engine is old and has some components that hinder productivity, but those two wires should not be touching.
• You attempt to fix the engine (requires Intelligence of 3 or higher) (go to Section 015)
• You leave it as is, and ask around for help (go to Section 017)


Section 015: You separate the crossed wires, moving more carefully than you’ve been with anything else in your life. One spark and the fuel could ignite. You are successful at correcting the wires. At this point, you’re certain this faulty setup was deliberate. It seems to be connected to a remote signal trigger. The ship would have been fine during takeoff but could have been set to blow at any moment during your voyages.

You look around and see an engineering crew member staring at you. He looks between you and the engine a few times before quickly running out the doors. The saboteur! You give chase.
• Tackle him to the ground (requires Strength and Agility of 3 or higher) (go to Section 027)
• Cut him off at the next turn (go to Section 031)


Section 016: The patient seems to be breathing slowly. The alien behind you says it’s been having violent fits during it’s sleep. You are standing next to the bed when you notice his breathing quicken. A hand rushes out to grab at your neck. You step back and grab his wrist. His bandages fall off, seems he only had them loosely on for show. Under the bandages is an angry face covered in burn scars. Similar physical build to yours, though this guy seems pumped up on adrenaline, or steroids from the recovery drugs, or both. You two are entangled

The Waco says that it’s going to get help and moves at a quick walk. Faster than most trees would run, you suppose. The man grappling with you is enraged. How could the Chief replace him so quickly, he yells. You try looking around for something to use but it’s keeping him at bay takes your full attention. You feel a pinprick in the middle of your back and then feel nothing, your body going slack. You slump to the ground, and a second later you hear the angry patient hit the ground behind you. You try to crane your head back to the entrance to the room and can see the feet of the Waco. It drops a stun gun. It moves over to you and helps you onto one of the beds. You thank it for the help, though wish it hadn’t stunned you. That was your first time being stunned. It apologizes, saying it didn’t have a clear shot, that all you humans look alike so it was easier to stun you both. You look down on the ground and see that the other party in the room is sound asleep. You decide to stay clear of the Medical area for the rest of your trip. Story End.


Section 017: You’ve seen this engine explode in flames once before, and are not about to test your luck trying to fix whatever looks off about the wiring. You back away slowly and look around for anyone of seniority. It takes some time to find someone who isn’t super busy down here. You alert the Chief to your concerns about faulty wiring in the engine. He seems suspicious that you found anything given that he looked it over earlier.

You both walk over and sure enough he agrees that you’ve found something mighty suspect with the way these wires are coupled together. He reaches in and carefully disconnects two cords. There’s a quick flicker with the lights in the room but the backup generator kicks on. He says they’ll investigate the engine further before taking off, but good job with the find. One wrong bump during liftoff and things could have gotten much hotter in here. He directs you to some members under him on his team whom you can get to know while the ship is grounded. You make some fast friends with these grease (space) monkeys. Time passes, the engine is cleared, and you’re off to space (hopefully with fewer kabooms). Story End.


Section 018: It quickly becomes apparent that the Chief likes to multitask. Whether he’s any good at it remains to be seen. While he is introducing you to the different members of his direct crew he is constantly switching between introductions and requesting status reports on different outputs of the engine room. How is productivity? And this here is his main electrician, Cody Columbus. Where are lags in power output? This old fart is Cyril Savannah, his main plumber. Yes, nothing’s worse than broken toilets in the middle of space. When does Bridge say they want to depart? Bah, they’ll depart when he’s good and ready.

You begin to think that the exhaust from the engine earlier may have been related to the Chief’s scatterbrain mentality. It may be best to stay around him and learn as much as you can. You’re eager to provide some new designs you worked on while in school that could help reduce the strain on such an engine. You notice the Chief is walking and talking while reading his data pad, unaware of the stairs right in front of him leading down to the lower portion of the room. You turn him quickly and he continues walking, talking, and reading his data pad, still oblivious to his surroundings. This job is going to be harder than you thought.
• Ask about the former protégé (go to Section 001)
• Suggest your new designs (requires Intelligence of 3 or higher) (go to Section 002)


Section 019: You insist on your innocence. You run through your story again and again. Your persistence begins to wear down the officer, who is trying his best to comb through every detail of your backstory and recount of recent events. It takes two weeks before you see the opening. The officer spills his drink on his shirt, cursing up a storm from the apparent heat of the drink. He exits the room, leaving the data pad.

You reach over and quickly press the top left corner, the corner you’ve been eyeing for the past week that you know, even from reading it upside down and across the table that it’s the only button you need to press. The wrist restraints chirp once and then unlock, falling from your wrists. You catch them before they hit the ground but are not quick enough to hide them before the officer reenters the room and seeing you’re newly freed state. You fling the cuffs at the officer’s face. He guards instinctively, opening his midsection for you to tackle him straight into the door. He’s knocked unconscious.
• It’s time to get revenge (requires Intelligence of 3 or higher) (go to Section 005)
• It’s time to get out of here (go to Section 021)


Section 020: He nods, saying you should get comfy as the next planet is a month away. He brings you food and drinks regularly. You get to know him more each day, learning his name is Deck Officer Monroe. He’s quiet, to the point, and enjoys talking with you. He doesn’t, however, warm up to you enough to remove the wrist restraints, or lets you leave the interrogation room. You stay in the room for the entire journey. He adjusts your diet to be fully nutritional. The wonders of space technology. You can travel the stars to distant planets, all while eating a protein bar that don’t make you need to use the bathroom.

He says you’re a day out from the next planet, Resaca. The last meal you eat tastes downright awful, though he insists it’s to acclimate you to life on the alien world. You start to get drowsy, noticing his grin widen before you fall asleep.

You wake up in a crowded market place. There are alien vendors selling wares of all sorts, all under a hazy purple atmosphere. Your eyes catch those of Deck Officer Monroe, who is shaking hands with an alien merchant. You try to call out to him but can’t seem to form any words. You try to move to him but can’t budge. Your feet at manacled to a metal platform, your hands chained behind you. You’re also not wearing anything. You start to struggle. He sees your erratic movements and moves over to you. He pats your cheek and says he promised to make you disappear. The last meal you ate had a powerful sedative as well as corrosive. Your vocal cords will need time to recover. Sure, it’s a simple medical operation to repair them but slaves don’t usually get that sort of care. You’ve just helped finance his next personal holiday, having just sold you to a back-alley slaver. You start to struggle more, but it’s no use he says. In fact, you’re next on the auction block. He doesn’t have time to stick around, so show off your stuff and good luck with the bids. Story End.


Section 021: You rush out the interrogation room. An announcement from the Bridge says that you’ll be landing on the Planet Resaca in three days at Standard Time 12:00. The Captain thanks the crew for a smooth trip thus far. You look back into the room and see the officer still splayed out on the ground. You try to slow down your thoughts. If it takes days to reach the next planet, then you’ll need to hide onboard the ship until you land. Once on the ground, you can get off this ship. You move back into the interrogation room and remove the first layer of clothes from the officer. You quickly cuff his hands together in front of him and leave the room. You find a control for the door and lock it.

You change into the officer’s uniform. It’s loose but will do for now. You look around the rest of the brig. No other prisoners in the cells from earlier. You begin rummaging through the officer’s desk, looking for a firearm. You’ll need something to help you survive your new life on the run. A crew member in a blue long-sleeved shirt enters and says he’s here to deliver the news that the Chief has finally recovered from the explosion from earlier, ready to give his testimony. But wait, you’re not the security officer. You introduce yourself as…as Security Undercrewman Bowden and motion for the crew member to have a seat. You begin to make up a story of how you are the security officer’s new protégé. He takes a seat in the chair opposite from you. He has the Chief’s initial statement recorded on his data pad and is about to hand it over to you when he squints at you suspiciously. He’s pretty sure he’s never heard of an “Undercrewman”. Just then, you flick the switch under the desk and see the crew members seize up from the electricity. A few seconds pass before he passes out. You turn off the electricity and begin hauling the crew member into the interrogation room. The security officer is still out but groans a little when you slump on top of him the unconscious body of his new cell mate.

The next few days are quiet. You revisit the interrogation room, now filled with two grumpy crew members. You try once to pass them food and water, but they nearly burst out of the room. So you decide it’s best to leave them until you’re safely off the ship. The ship lands and you calmly walk off the ship. You never look back. You jump ships and planets several times, always moving forward, finding a life among the stars, though not the one you envisioned. Story End.


Section 022: You exit the ship before it takes off. You watch it leave the atmosphere. There’s no shame in survival. Space travel is dangerous. You consider your next options and decide to revisit your university, seeking a more theoretical field of study, one where you can build designs for engines while keeping your feet safely on the ground. Story End.


Section 023: He takes a moment to consider your proposal. He looks you over. It would be good having more help with security, especially with a potential saboteur on board. He says this would be a permanent position, beyond the three-year contract you initially sign on for as part of Engineering. They can’t have temporary security for the spaceship as having rotating guards puts them at a security risk when they quit. You respond that you haven’t officially joined Engineering given the craziness of the past day. You want to clear your name by catching whoever’s behind this. The officer touches his security tablet and the lights on the front of your handcubes turn green before unlocking along with your cell door. He brings you a set of clothes: a gold long-sleeved shirt, black slacks, and black boots. He says the ship won’t take off until the engine is secured but suggests you both work quickly.

He introduces himself as Deck Officer Monroe, and he’s been with this ship for nearly ten years. You spend time revisiting the engine room, asking around the crew members for any suspicious activity. Going off what you’ve learned, you set up some surveillance around the engine. An hour passes and sure enough you spot the guy. He’s circled the back of the engine four times now. He doesn’t seem to be reporting to any crew members or staying in one place. Just keeps moving around with his head down. You and Deck Officer Monroe move in. You nab him, cuff him, and quickly he’s on the ground griping how he almost got away with it. One more pass and he would have had the trigger set up to blow the engine with him safely off the ship. He’s revealed to be the former protégé to the Chief and only now does he realize that you were his replacement, the one who got away from the blast from earlier.

The next month is filled with training. Physical to hone your body and mental by learning the ship’s routines and security functions. The voyages you go on, both across the stars and onto different alien worlds, are something worth writing about, but security clearance prevents you from saying anything more than that you’re a part of the Bridge team under Deck Officer Monroe. Story End.


Section 024: You yell out that you’re on a diplomatic mission to Between, a station built between two moons of Jupiter. You demand he release you at once. He stands there quietly, looking at you from the other side of the cell bars. He says he doesn’t believe you, that they have a log of all diplomats on board. He’s checked your background and your name isn’t on the list of diplomats, secret or otherwise.
• Bribe him to let you go (go to Section 028)
• Admit you were lying, but be adamant that you had nothing to do with the explosion from earlier (go to Section 029)


Section 025: You tell the officer that he can go kiss a Baxley and you see his expression harden. You drum up more courage and tell him that he doesn’t scare you. He presses his thumb into his data pad and the wrist restraints hurl you upwards against the wall. He presses again and the magnetic restrains lift you up a little more, to where just the tips of your bare feet are touching the floor. He goes to his desk and pulls out a jumble of metal cords and attachments. He spends a minute untangling the wires before returning to your cell. He opens the door and enters with the metallic mess.

He says he’s holding a mental investigator, one they picked up from an alien contact. He says doesn’t have the time or patience to sift the truth through any garbage you might tell him, so he’s going to wear you down until you’re ready to talk. Says it’s within his rights as security lead, even though you technically haven’t started working. He secures a thick metal helmet of sorts over your head. Metal cords drop down and he begins attaching them to your arms, sides, and feet, each pinching at first. You get one last look at him before he presses his thumb into the data pad, and the metal helmet closes off your vision and covers your ears. You feel the cords wrap around your arms, chest, legs, and feet. Even without your handcubes holding you in place, you’re pretty sure this metal contraption could keep you from moving until the officer wished. Light shines in front of your eyes and you realize it’s a display screen. A blur of images flashes in front of each eye, cycling too fast for you to keep up with. Audio plays in your ears. You hear animals, insects, people whispering, and alien languages. The metal bands around body start to constrict and loosen in pulses. It’s overwhelming.

You’re subjected to this for what feels like hours. You’re not sure how long the officer will keep you in this contraption. At this point, you’re ready to talk. You’re ready to apologize. You’re ready to say whatever it takes to get you out of this physical and mental hell. But on the other side of your metal nightmare, the security officer is pacing back and forth. He’s not sure which wires he crossed, but he can’t undo the locking parameters of the contraption. It’s not synching to his data pad anymore. And he wasn’t technically cleared to use this new device yet but you were just so infuriating. He can’t exactly call a technician, no, this must stay under the radar. Fortunately for him you’re not officially signed on with Engineering, and files can be deleted, especially with the chaos from yesterday. At best, he’ll unlock the suit when he figures out how to read the instruction, which are in an alien language. Doerun, perhaps? Your brain may be so scrambled at that point that you can’t press any charges against him. At worst, you make for a great footstool for the time being. Story End.


Section 026: You ask it to review the patient logs, and wonder if you might have offended the tree-based alien. It makes no notice of any slight. The Waco says there should be data on the patient in the next room. It turns slowly and exits the room. The door closes. You turn around, but the bed is empty. Standing next to it is the bandaged former protégé, with labored breathing. Through the bandages you can see what looks like a crazed look in his eyes. You back up quickly but accidentally bang your knee against one of the empty beds. You are tackled from behind, hitting your head hard against the ground.

You come too, groggily. The bright white lights of the room seem to amplify the throbbing in the side of your forehead. You realize you’re still in the Medical room but laying on one of the beds. The former protégé’s bed, given your position form the door. You go to sit up but feel straps along your body keeping you restrained to the bed. Hands, chest, legs, and ankles secured tightly but comfortably to the bed. You try to say something but realize your mouth is taped strictly, with most of your head wrapped in bandages. The doors open and the same Waco from earlier enters the room. It says you really shouldn’t attack visitors, especially friendly ones. You won’t be going anywhere until the head physician can examine your mental stability.

It dawns on you that the former protégé has switched places with you. That crazed crewman could be anywhere. You try to buck in bed and pull free from the restraints, but the Waco just sighs and walks over to you. It holds up a handheld device, which it fits over your face. A long tube runs the device over to an outlet in the wall. You begin to smell pine and nutmeg as you have no choice but to breathe through your nose through the device. The alien says that should calm you down. Get comfortable, it says, and it turns off the lights before leaving the room. Story End.


Section 027: You grab his legs and bring the runner to the ground. You look around for help and find that you’re right in front of the brig. The security officer asks what’s going on and you tell him this is the guy who’s been sabotaging the engine. The officer’s eyes widen as he says that’s the Chief’s former protégé, and he’d been reported missing from Medical. You think back and realize there was only one occupied bed in the medical unit. The officer handcuffs the struggling man and hauls him to his feet.

The engineering crew member starts spatting curses (some of them alien) at you for ruining his plans. He’d planned for the Chief to recover and would ignite that sorry son of a Tignall for trying to replace him. The security officer thanks you for wrapping this case before it got worse and says he’ll take it from here. You head back to Engineering, where the crew members thank you and give you your official uniform. The next few days go by without any incidents, and the Chief returns mostly recovered (though his eyebrows have yet to grow back). You share your thoughts on some improvements to the engine design and you two get to work. Story End.


Section 028: He continues to stare. Before you can come up with a number of credits you think might buy him off (of which you don’t have since you’re straight out of University), he walks over to his desk and sits down in his chair. He begins typing on his terminal. You shout out that you can pay double he makes, no, triple, if he releases you. He continues typing, ignoring you. He stands up and steps out of the brig.

An hour passes before he returns, informing you that he’s got enough evidence to put you away for sabotage and conspiracy. He’s spoken with Engineering and they have cleared the engine for takeoff and doubled security. The next month is torture. Mental, not physical, as he presses you again and again for further information. Who were you working for? What did you have against the Chief and this crew? You don’t have any info to give up. You swear. He says in that case there’s no bargaining you can provide to lessen your sentence. The ship stops for supplies at the next planet, Resaca, where you’re transferred to the local judiciary and quickly convicted. You’re transferred to a penal asteroid, where you spend the rest of your days chipping away at space rocks. You get to see the stars, though forget about travelling them. Story End.


Section 029: You sing like a canary. You had just boarded the ship. You are scared and cold and just want to be anywhere but here at this point. He looks at you, face unchanged. He says he doesn’t see you as a vindictive killer and couldn’t find any connection for why you’d want to harm the Chief. But he also doesn’t see that you’d make for a hardy crew member. He says you’ll be kept for questioning, at least until the Chief recovers to see if he can verify your story. You feel the ship rock as you begin to take off. You are unsure of your fate but have no choice to go along for the ride. Story End.


Section 030: This is getting out of hand, you tell him. You’ve done nothing wrong. You try to recount your story of how you interviewed, accepted the position, eagerly looked forward to starting today, and had just met the Chief when the explosion happened. He has you repeat your story, each time asking for more details. Why this ship in particular? Did you have contact with any alien affiliates? How did you know the Chief?

You stick to your story as closely as possible. It feels like hours. He then pulls up an image on the data pad of the explosion from earlier. It clearly shows you jumping out of the way, but its difficult to tell from the angle at what time you noticed the explosion. He says the evidence mounting against you could go either way. But he’s willing to make this little problem disappear. For that to happen, he’d need to make you disappear. You start imagining him shooting you out an airlock into space. He says if it’s true that you’re somehow gotten mixed up in something nefarious, then your best option is to get off the ship at the next stop. You’d leave your home world behind but wouldn’t run the risk of the court ruling against you.
• Bide your time and plan your escape. (requires Agility of 3 or higher) (go to Section 019)
• Accept his offer (go to Section 020)


Section 031: You run down the next corridor and take a right then another right but there’s no sign of the suspicious crew member. In fact, you’re not sure where in the ship you are at this point. As you stand still to gather your bearings, you’re shoved hard from behind. You’re pushed through an open door, which quickly shuts behind you. You stand up and quickly realize that this is the airlock. Over the intercom you hear who you assume is the saboteur mock you for almost catching him. But nothing is going to stand in his way of getting revenge of the Chief.

The man says he was the former protégé and was threatened that the Chief would seek a replacement while he was recovering from last month’s injury in the engine room. He’d planned to kill the Chief with an engine blast earlier today and would do so again after he reset the trap, of course after disposing of you. He laughs as he starts the venting process which will suck you out into space! But he stops laughing once he realizes that you haven’t taken off yet. The airlock to the outside opens and you carefully crawl out and down to the ground. Once out, you describe what happened and report the man to the security team and he’s quickly arrested. You are welcomed warmly by the rest of the engineering team, and the Chief once he eventually recovers a few days later. Your star travels are filled with plenty of other adventures, but at least no more psychotic coworkers. Story End.
Last edited by bigsmile21 5 months ago, edited 1 time in total.
:)21
User avatar
LK3869
Centennial Club
Centennial Club
Posts: 809
Joined: 6 years ago
Location: Lyon, France

Post by LK3869 »

So far, I've been electroshocked and send to sleep after being strapped to the bed :lol: Torture with a promotion and bondage leading to a dead-end... That was quite fun. Personal STAR ratings: S+1 T+4 A+2 R+3
don't run ! I'm friendly ...
User avatar
bigsmile21
Centennial Club
Centennial Club
Posts: 104
Joined: 6 years ago

Post by bigsmile21 »

LK3869 wrote: 5 years ago So far, I've been electroshocked and send to sleep after being strapped to the bed :lol: Torture with a promotion and bondage leading to a dead-end... That was quite fun. Personal STAR ratings: S+1 T+4 A+2 R+3
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for sharing!
:)21
heybro
Forum Contributer
Forum Contributer
Posts: 33
Joined: 5 years ago

Post by heybro »

LK3869 wrote: 5 years ago So far, I've been electroshocked and send to sleep after being strapped to the bed :lol: Torture with a promotion and bondage leading to a dead-end... That was quite fun. Personal STAR ratings: S+1 T+4 A+2 R+3
How did you get tied up! I've been trying to get tied up but no luck yet! haha.
User avatar
LK3869
Centennial Club
Centennial Club
Posts: 809
Joined: 6 years ago
Location: Lyon, France

Post by LK3869 »

heybro wrote: 5 years ago
LK3869 wrote: 5 years ago So far, I've been electroshocked and send to sleep after being strapped to the bed :lol: Torture with a promotion and bondage leading to a dead-end... That was quite fun. Personal STAR ratings: S+1 T+4 A+2 R+3
How did you get tied up! I've been trying to get tied up but no luck yet! haha.
Gotta forget all modesty and pretend you're a 'T+4' smartass and ask to see some files :lol:
don't run ! I'm friendly ...
heybro
Forum Contributer
Forum Contributer
Posts: 33
Joined: 5 years ago

Post by heybro »

LK3869 wrote: 5 years ago
heybro wrote: 5 years ago
LK3869 wrote: 5 years ago So far, I've been electroshocked and send to sleep after being strapped to the bed :lol: Torture with a promotion and bondage leading to a dead-end... That was quite fun. Personal STAR ratings: S+1 T+4 A+2 R+3
How did you get tied up! I've been trying to get tied up but no luck yet! haha.
Gotta forget all modesty and pretend you're a 'T+4' smartass and ask to see some files :lol:
You mean they like tying up the Strong dudes? heh heh
User avatar
LK3869
Centennial Club
Centennial Club
Posts: 809
Joined: 6 years ago
Location: Lyon, France

Post by LK3869 »

heybro wrote: 5 years ago
You mean they like tying up the Strong dudes? heh heh
Gotta cheat on my stats to check that :lol:
don't run ! I'm friendly ...
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic