The holomap blinks to life, complete with markings and your current position.

"The ship is already undergoing repairs. They're pulling scrap metal off the Factory ship. We should be ready to go in a day or two." Scot says.

"The most important part of fighting, is staying two steps ahead. Everyone can think one step ahead. We need to think two steps ahead. Plan our move, know how our enemy will react, and then plan our next move." Mr. Max says.

"I understand that this is all rather... Sudden. If you want advice, feel free to ask it of anyone. Everyone knows something." Mr. Max says.

Light Green=Haven
Your homeworld
Red=Tauros
A small planet with a ring of asteroids around it filled with night clubs, casinos and other dens of Ill repute.
Gray=Asteroid 9917732b
A small asteroid with a tiny base on it. It's a popular spot for smugglers, rebels and pirates to hide.
Tan dots=Asteroid field
You are currently on an abandoned Factory ship here.
Orange=Celios
A mineral rich world currently being mined by the council
Purple= Prosper
A factory planet that smelts and refines much of the minerals from Celios.
Purple line
Major shipping route between Celios and Prosper
Blue= Ironclad
The closest of the seven core worlds, led by Chairman Waildmann.
Green=Eden
An idyllic world of Forests, mountains, jungles and Oceans
Yellow=Unknown Contact
It sounded on all radio frequencies, and then stopped.

Bumping to be seen.

I'll be running this more or less all day.

LOOK SELF

LOOK INVENTORY

>>14040824
>>14040744
>>14040665
Is the ship repaired yet?

>>14040839
Your inventory consists of numerous weapons, clothes, food and other supplies, as well as a large merchant vessel.

You look ragged. The past few hours has drained you, along with Mr. Donowitz' death and your new role.

>>14040864
It's being repaired as you plan your next move.

>>14040876
GROW A BEARD.

Also, we need to reinforce the ship's frame. See if we can also cut back on some of the ships weight. AND we need better heat dispersal for all the ship's systems.

Also, faster engines, with a SMALLER signature. Somehow.

We need to be hard to spot, and harder to catch up to.

>>14040894
Mr. Max listens to your suggestions, nodding.

"We can reinforce the ship here, albeit somewhat sloppily, using the metal from the Factory ship. Perhaps if we could get our hands on some Supersteel we could even refit the whole ship... That would cut our weight in half. I dunno about the engines. Maybe you should talk to Al or Olivia about those."

>>14040933
Make a note: Find Supersteel.

Go talk to Al and Olivia.

Also, see if we can scan the Yellow Dot.

Ping the Yellow Dot, do not identify ourselves, ask about number of crewman alive. See how long they can survive until we can save them.

>>14040957
Olivia is welding a strip of steel, shouting at two other men to keep the piece steady. She talks as she welds.

"Maybe, instead of those two bulky engines we have now, we can replace it with six or more smaller engines? That would also have the benefit of keeping us going, even if we lose a few engines. I'll draw up some plans."

Al has already triangulated the object and the holomap shows it's trajectory... Straight towards Haven.

"At this distance, I can't scan it. To be straight with you, I have n clue what it is. It doesn't have an ID, so it's not any ship we know about. The signal we got on the Radio" He plays it, three pings, one after the other, like a submarines sonar "Don't match anything we know about either. We'd have to get closer to find out what it is, but if it pinged us on all frequencies, I'm afraid that the Council will try and get at it too."

Fix the ship, move into new quarters.

>>14041060
The hip is currently being repaired and reinforced.

>>14041074
ship*

>>14041057
It might be a trap. Lure ships in, then catch them and vent all their air.

We should still get closer and have a look later. Have him figure out a route to intercept it.

>>14041140
He plays the tone again.

Bing.

Bing.

Bing.

Suddenly it changes trajectory. Then again.

"Hmmm... Why is it doing that?" Al says. He starts typing in some rapid fire commands. The new trajectory shows it going off to unknown regions.

"Something I've noticed, Renard... Mr. Renard. Look how fast it's moving." He points. It is visibily moving across the holomap.

"How fast does that translate too?" You ask

"Let me check..." More rapid typing "1.23 the speed of light... Impossible..."

>>14041197
XENOS!

SET COURSE FOR THAT SHIP!

>>14041197
UNPOSSIBLE.

Tell him to scan again.

>>14041201
Al looks at you questioningly.

"Xenos? Space-faring aliens? No ones discovered anything but terrestrial, non-sentient life... Do you really think so?"

Wait, guys, I've got it.

We need to convert this Factory station in a Rebellion Listening Post.

Scanners out the ass, maximum encryption on the comm arrays, radar EVERYWHERE.

>>14041228
"At this range, I can't get a good scan... We'd need to be within one AU to get a complete scan... And that might be too close." He enters more calculations "It's no error though. That thing is going 1.23... err... 1.24 the speed of light."

>>14041235
"No, I don't. But really, it's possible. I don't think any HUMAN has FTL, do you?"

Pause for dramatic tension.

"If the Council gets their hands on FTL, we're FUCKED."

>>14041268
Al nods in agreement.

"I'm afraid we don't have any way to catch up with something going..." he checks "1.25 the speed of light. We could ping it, and try and communicate. Or, we could make a jump and try and get ahead of it, but it's a long shot."

>>14041246
Al nods at this too.

"The hardest part would be hiding it though. A long range listening post would serve us well. Tracking fleet movements, sending messages, intercepting messages..." He frowns "But how to get the hardware?"

>>14041282
"Try pinging it first."

Al sends a ping, trying to match the unknown ships ping.

"Jesus... It just stopped. Went from 1.27 light speed to... nothing." Al types in some commands. "It's turning around... Heading right for..." He pauses.

"It's headed right for us at 1.01 light speed and increasing"

>>14041381
Well, we'd scavenge a lot of it. It's amazing how easy it is to adapt tech if you really put you mind to it.

The rest we can buy, or mine from asteroids if it's just some basic metal poles or something.

Also, Ping the ship.

>>14041412
OH SNAP.

Ping it again, ask if it needs assistance.

>>14041437
Al sends another ping, and then a radio transmission.

"Hey, you guys alright? Need any help?"

As soon as the transmission is sent, a response arrives. It sounds like static, but somehow more pleasant to listen to. It's intermingled with what sounds like more sonar echoes, and what sounds like wind.

"Welp, I've no idea what the fuck that was. If they continue accelerating at a constant pace, they'll be here in... 15 minutes."

>>14041479
Right.

Try sending it music, Mozart maybe.

Do we have any Pink Floyd on board?

If so, send Is There Anybody Out There to them.

>>14041510
It takes Al a minute to find the correct file, but eventually he transmits some Mozart, and several other classical pieces of music.

More static arrives, the same as last time.

"Mr. Renard... Do you think we should let the crew know about this?"

>>14041539
In a minute.

Send this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRzCbolcnag

Tell the crew, they need to know.

>>14041549
That file is an exact match to what you've been recieving...

>>14041549
Send this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M3Rpy3tv50&feature=related

>>14041580
Send this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe8HMUXP7es&feature=related

Upsweep sound. Perfect.

>>14041598
You send the file, and get the same reply, followed by the file you just sent.

"Whatever this is, it's sentient. It just sent the same file back to us. Not a different file, the exact same one we just sent. ETA... 10 minutes."

>>14041628
Send this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYiWNLv-Bgg

It's definitely XENOS

>>14041622
Sending this file also gets the contact to send the file back.

"Maybe it's learning?"

Al pauses for a second.

"Captain... I think we really might be on to something. If these really are xenos, we'll be making first contact!"

"If they're not hostile that is." It's Mr. Ma, standing in the doorway.

>>14041628
"Everyone, report to the bridge. Now."

Wait for them to arrive.

"Something is coming our way. It's . . . we don't know what it is, but we think it's xenos. Not human. It's moving too fast for us to get away from it, so we're going to take the ship, if it's able, up out of the factory and see what's going on. If you want, go ahead and get out into the factory. There are some foodstuffs left that we couldn't unload from the stockpiles, plus whatever else is still aboard. If this ship . . . if something happens to it, I don't want to feel responsible for anything to happen to all of you. So go ahead and make your choice. I've got nothing else to lose though. I wouldn't mind meeting an alien."

How are we communicating?

Nothing goes faster than light, except in this case, the alien(?) ship and possibly their communications. Humans though, wouldn't be able to broadcast to them. If they're going faster than light, they'd get to us before our transmissions hit them.

>>14041660
Send it an image file!

With numbers form one to 100.

Under each number is a number of black dots corresponding to that number they are under, leading up to 100 dots under the last number.

GO.

Also, we haven't considered we're being TROLLED.

>>14041691
Al's been sending them to where the trajectory shows the object will be. The contact is getting the signals almost as soon as they leave though.

>>14041724
The contact sends an image file back. There's five dots, a space, three dots, a space, and then eleven dots.


>>14041669
There's troubled and skeptical looks all about. Only Mr. Max is staying calm. Al looks at you nervously.

"Five minutes until it reaches us. It's still sending the static." He says.

After a few more seconds Mr. Ma steps forward.

"Right-o, no ones getting off then?"

No one moves.

"Take her up then, if you will, Mr. Renard."

Tracie sits next to you, and speaks for the first time all day.

"Mr. Renard, are we gonna have ta fight these aliens? We aint even fully patch'd up yet. I don' think we can handle it if it's gonna come ta fightin'."

>>14041782
"Well then, they're peaceful."

Fly on up. Transmit 1 - 100 in binary.

>>14041782
Wat.

So:

*****

***

***********

Let me think...

Sending it binary receives another image file. This time, it's only a dot, a space, and a dash.

. _

The first image message is more like this.
***** *** ***********

"Three minutes until they get to us. We're now holding position." Al says.

Send them images of a male and female human.

As well as the chemical blueprints for a breathable human atmosphere. Mostly nitrogen, some hydrogen, can't remember the other gases.

>>14041838
Can't forget oxygen.

>>14041838
After sending it this, the ship is barraged with a series of images, mostly dashes and dots, a long string of them.

"I think this might be a code of some sort... One minute until the y arrive.

>>14041921
DAMMIT.

WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

FFFFFUUUUU if only I wasn't so bad with codes and ciphers.

>>14041921
Unlikely to be morse code. Since that's based on English as they probably don't speak it.

Get a recording device and record a small message. "This is . . . my name isn't important. I'm aboard a small merchant vessel, and in moments, my crew and I expect to meet with life . . . not native to Earth. Extra terrestrial life. I'm going to leave this recording for as long as possible. If . . . if we're found dead, or if this ship is found drifting in the void, empty of life, you'll know what happened."

>>14041933
"Captain... It seems as if they're only using dots and dashes? Perhaps if we can translate the dashes as zeroes... and the dots as ones..." Al types in a few commands. A few seconds later, this pops up.

01000011 01101000 01100101 01101101 01101001 01100011 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01000010 01101001 01101111 01101100 01101111 01100111 01101001 01100011 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01101001 01100111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110101 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110011 01100011 01100001 01101110 01101110 01100101 01100100 00101100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100011 01101000 01101001 01110110 01100101 01100100 00101110

>>14041957
Mr. Max seems startled by this.

"Do you really think it'll come to that, Mr. Renard? I don't want to play overly optimistic, but what kind of race would seek out another race just to destroy them?"

"Chemical and Biological signs found scanned, and archived."

Well look at that.

Transmit the following.
0101011101100101001000000110000101110010011001010010000001101110011011110111010000100000011000010110
0110011100100110000101101001011001000010111000100000001000000101000001101100011001010110000101110011
0110010100100000011011010110010101100101011101000010000001110111011010010111010001101000001000000111
01010111001100101110

01000111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 01110011 00100001 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100001 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001101 01100001 01111001 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00111111

>>14041972
Douchebag race.

>>14041975
The message is sent.

"The object should be in view... right.. NOW!" Al points to one of the Starboard cameras.

The object arrives in a flash of blue light. From this distance it appears to be a 3 and a half meter long, golden cylinder. The end pointing towards you is bulged outwards in a dome like shape, and is glowing a faint blue. It drifts slowly towards you, and you notice that the stars around it seem to distort and ripple, like heat rising off a pavement. Numerous cilia- like antenna extend from the main cylinder, moving and swaying as if underwater. It continues towards you until it reaches 66 kilometers, and then stops.

"God damn... It's engines are projecting the power of a small sun... Fission reaction on a craft that small?"

>>14042079
01000001 01101100 01100011 01110101 01100010 01101001 01100101 01110010 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100100 01110010 01101001 01110110 01100101 00111111

>>14042079
Record that bitch with a camera.

"God damn, I'm shaking." Transmit the following.

01000111 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 01110011 00101110 00100000 00100000 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110010 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101001 01100111 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110011 01110000 01100101 01100011 01101001 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01101110 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101111 01110010 00100000 01101111 01110010 01101001 01100111 01101001 01101110 00101110 00100000 00100000 01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110011 01110000 01100101 01100011 01101001 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101001 01110010 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01100001 01100011 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100001 01101110 01111001 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01100001 01100111 01101110 01101001 01110100 01110101 01100100 01100101 00101110 00100000 00100000 01010111 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100101 00101110

>>14042094
They're alien. They wouldn't know what you're talking about.

The net signal sent by the ship, when translated to binary is:
01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00001101 00001010 01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00001101 00001010 01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00001101 00001010 01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00001101 00001010 01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00001101 00001010 01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011

>>14042113
I would think they would, given that they had recorded Slow Down.

>>14042119
01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00100000 01100001 01100010 01101111 01110101 01110100 00111111

01010111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01100001 01101100 01110011 01101111 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00101110

>>14042097
Seven of your cameras are fully recording the object. Ship computers are also archiving scans of the ship.

"Al, see if you can write a program that translates binary to English, and our English to their binary." You say.

"I'm on it.

>>14042144
UNPOSSIBLE.

WE DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGY.

http://home2.paulschou.net/tools/xlate/

For those who can't understand binary.

>>14042144
Actually it's pulses of radio waves translated into binary translated into English.

And our English into binary into radio waves into binary into whatever language they have.

>>14042131
>>14042143

Al finishes up the translating program as you send the next string of binary. The response arrives moments later.

"Aw, what the fuck" Al says.

WE WE WE WE WE WE NEED NEED NEED NEED NEED NEED TO TO TO TO TO TO SCAN SCAN SCAN SCAN SCAN SCAN YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU.

"Is that a glitch?" You ask.

"No, it's how they sent it. Exactly like that" Al says.

>>14042188
"Fuck it. Al, ask them to show us what they look like."

>>14042188
STOP STOP STOP REPEATING REPEATING REPEATING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING YOU'RE YOU'RE YOU'RE SAYING SAYING SAYING LIKE LIKE LIKE THIS THIS THIS

>>14042199
>>14042199
>>14042206
"Noted. I'll have the program drop any duplicate words right next to each other. But that's how they're sending it." Al says, typing.

"Maybe the number six means something to them?" Mr. Max muses.

"They're sending images."

The images that pop up are little better then hieroglyphics. Some of them are obviously suns, black holes and stars. Others seem to be space ships, but of rounded shape. Other symbols are more difficult to translate. One appears to be a rectangular eye. Another looks like an inverted water droplet. At the end of the transmission is a message.

"WE NEED TO SCAN YOU."

>>14042273
"Come scan us." To Al and Max, "Think they mean an individual?"

Look at the entire assortment of men and women with us, and then get into a space suit and go to the airlock.

>>14042273
Scan away.

>>14042206
Stop short-handing it. They're speaking in six, not three. Possibly denoting a fragmented hive mind.

>>14042336
It's so they can recognize the difference and understand my meaning better.

>>14042297
>>14042299
The blue bulge at the front of the ship begins sparking with electricity.

"Captain, they're sending a message. I can't get a hold of the destination, but it's more then 200 light years away." Al says, tapping furiously.

"That's 140 light years past even the farthest mining colony." Mr. Max mummers

"They've finished scanning us."

The cameras show the probe power down. The blue glow fades, the antenna stop waving and it floats there, inert.

"They sent one last message, Mr. Renard." Al says.

"What's it say?" Mr. Max is leaning over your shoulder.

"You'd better look for yourself."


THE BLACKEST
REACHES OF
SPACE MUST HOLD
KNOWLEDGE
WE MUST FIND

>>14042347
I hope so. Otherwise, the other three will feel like we're ignoring them.

>>14042389
"Good luck with that. With any luck our species will meet you out there soon."

http://tinyurl.com/4s2r3lf

>>14042389
"What are you looking for?"

Reporting in. It's questing time.

The crew sits there, talking about what just happened amongst themselves. For almost an hour you discuss the implications and far reaching consequences of this first contact with Mr. Max and Scot. Olivia seems almost in awe with the scans of the ship.

"Us! We just made first contact with an alien race! Us!" Mr. Max is saying. "We'll be heroes! Legends!"

The alarm suddenly goes off, filling the cockpit and cargo hold with red light.

"Captain! Council science vessel two AU's distant and closing!"

>>14042389
Huh. I'm not sure but that could be either a message interruption or simply how they structure sentences.

>>14042471
>xenos trying to make contact
KILL IT WITH HOLY PROMETHIUM. FOR THE EMPRAH.

>>14042471
Get over to the alien ship. You said it's pretty small, likely a probe. Load it into our ship's cargo hold and then gtfo, hiding back in the asteroid field.

Engage radar and radio jamming as well.

"How long before they arrive?"
If we have time, collect the innert probe. Then leave the vicinity.

>>14042509
Request the aliens either do this or GTFO.

WARN THEM THAT THE COUNCIL WILL TRY TO KILL THEM AND DESTROY THEIR SOCIETY.

>>14042535
Idea: Send a timed explosive toward the nearest body, activating it to draw them away from our position.

>>14042509
>>14042509
"uh... stations everyone!" You shout. You sit in the pilots chair, hands on the controls. You bring the engines to life and accelerate the short distance it takes to get to the probe.

"Olivia, Tom, gear up for EVA. Get that probe on board." you say through the radio.

"Roger, we're on it." Comes the reply.

"Council ship is closing fast. Hold on... Three new contacts, from the Council ships. They're observation satelites"

You hit the Radio and Radar jammers after sending a warning to the alien probe.

"Captain, the Council observers can triangulate our position using cameras. We have about five minutes to get out of here."

>>14042642
"HURRY THE FUCK UP! I AM NOT LETTING THOSE BASTARDS GET THEIR HANDS ON THIS!"

>>14042642
Wait until the Aliens leave, cover their retreat with Gauss fire if necessary.

Then GTFO.

>>14042642
"Would they still work if we blew them with gauss cannons?"

>>14042681
"Not a chance. I' gonna go get on my cannon" Tracie stands up and leaves the cockpit.

"We don't have much chance of hitting them if the radar jammer is up. But that Council ship has powerful sensors. It'll spot us the second we cut power to the jammers.

>>14042713
"We just survived an attack against a frigate. We don't need to risk another one. Get ready to haul ass out of here."

Leave area with our shiny alien probe.

Once we get the probe on board, we're going into the asteroid field to lose these fuckers, then we need to gtfo to someplace else.

>>14042788
Eden or Asteroid 9917732b seem like good choices.

>>14042743
One of the crew rushes into the cockpit.

"Probe is secure, ready to leave when you are."

You nod and hit the thrusters, angling downwards into the asteroid thicket, which rises to meet you. You angle into a more or less up right position and start to maneuver amongst the rocks.

"Captain, where are we heading? Those Satellites are spreading out, covering a wider and wider area. If we don't take care of those satellites or get either to some sufficient cover or out of here, they'll find us."

Allow me to reiterate.
Leave mass diversions. Navigate through the asteroid field. Activate mass diversions.

>>14042816
BLOW UP THE STATION WITH GAUSS CANNONS TO DISTRACT THEM.

They're gonna find it anyways, and search it. Best to get some use out of it before they do.

>>14042830
"The only explosives we have on board are our last three sub-nuclear missiles. Is it worth getting rid of our most powerful weapons?"

>>14042840
Light Gauss cannons wouldn't destroy the station, but subnukes would.

>>14042840
Sounds like as good a plan as any.

While we're traveling, have someone who knows something go check that probe out.

>>14042862
BUT.

Can we make the Gauss cannons fire out into nowhere, so the satellites think it's the probe running?

>>14042850
"I don't know if you remember, but we have a fucking ALIEN PROBE back there. Shoot one of the nukes at something big on the station, and let's get the fuck out of here. We'll have two left. God damn, I wish we hadn't used so many back at the station."

>>14042862
>>14042850
"What are the chances we can find/buy more nukes?"

>>14042897
With enough money we could buy anything.

But right now I'm not too concerned about that. I'm concerned about us getting the hell out of here with this proof of alien life: the footage of their ship, their transmissions, and most importantly, their god damn probe.

As you pass the station, one of the Subnukes is launched with a five minute detonation timer.

You are hidden well within the asteroid thicket when the detonation goes off. Cameras show the main segment of the Factory ship buckle and then burst, spraying molten hot shrapnel amongst the asteroids. The half kilometer long leading edge twists off, spiraling into the asteroids.

"It worked. Science vessel is making a beeline for the spot." Al reports.

You pilot the ship out of the asteroid field and quickly reach max speed. In less then half an hour you are out of the system and disengage the jammers.

"We're ready to hit warp when you are captain, just give us a destination." Al says.

>>14042989
Let's head for Haven.

GOTTA SELL SOME SHIT.

>>14042989
Haven first. Get paid so we can repair, rearm and kick some council ass.

>>14043001
>>14043016
"Haven first. We need funds."

Al nods and types in the calculations.

"Ten hours until we get there." Al says.

You nod and set the ship on auto-pilot.

What do you do in the meantime?

>>14043069
Check out that alien tech. Carefully.
If I didn't want people messing with my stuff, I'd set countermeasures, so lets watch out for that.

>>14043092
Set up a light that flashes, and hook it up to the binary converter. That way we can continue to talk.

>>14043069
inb4fap

Check in on the crew, and continue with alien tech.

>>14043069

Is "end your own life utilizing ten toothpicks" a valid input?

>>14043092
Olivia and Mr. Max are already in the hold with the probe. Up close, the plating on the probe is almost blinding. Even up close, it is awe-inspiring. The bulge near the front is actually a glass dome. At the moment, it is dull. Etched all along the sides of the cylinder are more hieroglyphics. Most of them seem to be astronomical in nature: Stars, suns, planets, moons, spaceships.

Olivia is near the back, examining the engines.
"Look at this" she says, pointing "A quarter the size of our smallest engine, yet this thing hit 1.25 the speed of light" She rubs a hand on it. "What do you think it uses as fuel?"

"Don't even think about prying it open, Olivia" Mr. Max says. "We don't know what our new friends may or may not find offensive." Mr. Max is pacing up and down the length of the probe. Olivia steps back just a slight bit.

"Has there been any activity?" You ask.

"None. For all we know, the probe could be dead. It's been motionless as a wrong since we got a hold of it." Mr. Ma says. "Shame too. We were having such a good conversation."

>>14043165
I'm afraid not.

>>14043197
Poke it with a stick.

>>14043197
>>14043232
Seconding poke it with a stick.

>>14043197
"...search outside the probe for any sort of activator, but DON'T OPEN IT."

You find a length of thin metal pipe and poke it. It makes a dull metallic clang.

"I love your scientific method" Olivia says dryly.

>>14043253
Poke it with a MAGNET attached to a stick.

Maybe it doesn't even use electronics.

>>14043265
It could be made of some weird plastic.

>>14043244
The hull is completely smooth save for the antenna sticking to the hull and the hieroglyphics. The only point of entry seems to be from the engine, and going in through there would probably be a waste of time.

"God damnit. If I had the proper tools I could scan for radiation." Olivia aims a kick at the discarded metal pole.

>>14043286
What about the tools we "looted" from the station? Maybe some of them will be of use.

>>14043265
"Get me a magnet" You say. A few seconds later, a magnet is placed in your hands. You rub the magnet up and down the hull, and then let go. The magnet clangs to the floor.

>>14043286
http://www.ki4u.com/free_book/s60p792.htm

Easy to make.

Try picking it up, see how heavy it is, then measure its volume, and figure out how dense it is.

>>14043303
"I'll go check" Olivia says and hurries up to the main cargo bay.

"You should get some sleep, Mr. Renard. How long have you been up? You must be exhausted." Scot enters the room and sits on an empty crate. After a moment of watching he goes over and starts to scribble some of the hieroglyphics down on a piece of paper.

"I'm back. The only thing I could find was this shock stick." Olivia holds up the long, cattle prod like device.

>>14043337
"We just found aliens. Do you really think I'm going to sleep now?"

"Shocking a probe which we have no idea how to use. What's the worst that can happen?"

>>14043373
"You'd probably think better with a good nights rest. But you're in command here." He shrugs.

After a full hours experimentation, and no activity whatsoever from the probe, you give up. The probe is obviously amazingly advanced, and also amazingly still and silent.

"Well, I'm off to get some sleep." Scot says. Mr. Max follows him, leaving you and a frustrated Olivia in the cargo hold.

>>14043415
SEXY TIMES.

>>14043419
No.

Let's take the cattle prod apart and make something COOL.

Like an ELECTROLASER.

Do we have a laser emitter?

>>14043430
What do you mean by laser emitter? Like a laser that can actually do damage? Or something like a laser pointer?

>>14043445
It needs to be able to create a laser induced plasma channel, so it may be able to do a little bit of damage, but basically it's just a laser pointer.

>>14043480
There's a few of them amongst the equipment salvaged from the asteroid field. Roll to make it, although your standard guns would probably work better. Add +5 for your skill in mechanics that you picked up. After this we'll jump to Haven.

>>14043415
Idea: Do we still have jammers active?

>>14043513
Nope, you turned them off once you were out of the system.

>>14043509
Ok, rolling.

Also, Electrolasers are basically tasers at long range. They also destroy electronics.

rolled 59 + 5 = 64

>>14043523
DAMMIT.

>>14043445

You need a femtosecond ti:sapphire laser or something similar.
It needs to cause atmospheric blooming along a cylindrical channel fast enough to avoid being dampened by its own bloom.
Then it needs to either PUMP a microwave emitter down the cylinder channel, or link the plasma to a regular high-voltage source.

It's not very effective at anything other than stunning an unshielded biological lifeform.
Best to make a dense plasma focus, and irradiate the sod out of things.

>>14043522
Well there goes my idea...

FUKKEN XENOS

After a time, you fashion together a basic electroshocker, effective to about twenty meters.

Exhausted, you go and catch some sleep in Mr. Donowitz' old quarters, now yours. You wake up as you're about to arrive in system. Mr. Max explains the situation to you.

"Our meeting spot is a small clearing outside of Dunsberg, a small town in the southern hemisphere. Council patrols are light there, and the only thing in that town is a Magtrain track." Mr. Max says as you settle into the cockpit.

You nod and arrive in system. The familiar blue and green ball that is your home greets you from a magnified camera lens. It feels like years since you've been here, when in reality, it's only been a few weeks.

"Shit, trouble already!" Mr. Max cries. The alert goes off. Two council fighters are on in intercept course...

And that's all for tonight guys. I have to get to sleep.